From midnight to 2 a.m., the South Jordan resident worked on his lifelike rendering of the newest Jazzman, etched in marker and ink. On Thursday morning, he waited in line outside Vivint Smart Home Arena for the better part of an hour to pull the drawing out of a yellow folder and present to Allen himself — for an autograph, of course.
It was that segment of the Utah Jazz fan base that showed up for Allen’s first public event in Salt Lake City, an autograph and photo session outside the team store. They were, by and large, either Duke fans who had followed the 22-year-old guard’s career over the course of several seasons, or Jazz fans who have ironclad trust in the team’s draft process — or overlapped in both camps.